Break Time!

Mama tree swallow taking a break. The nest building has been going at a fevered pitch over the past three days. We took a peek in the box yesterday afternoon and we believe the nest is almost done. As for the house sparrow, so far so good. We haven't seen it around the birdhouse since the incident. The mama will be vulnerable to attack when she lays her eggs and spends more time on the nest. We're doing all we can to see that it doesn't happen again.

Bye Bye Birdie!

Yesterday morning, our Tree Swallows left to migrate. Terry happened
to see the entire family happily flying around the birdhouse and arbor.
Here's how he described it to me in an email he sent me yesterday morning.

"Those were definitely the babies flying around my head when I went
out there. Kinda freaked me out – I was standing in front of the box
looking up and there wasn’t any sign of the babies. I couldn’t hear
them or see them. Then out of the blue 4-5 tree swallows swooped
down near the entrance of the box but didn’t try to feed the one left.
That’s when he started jabbering. They didn’t do it again but the
momma bird did come back and feed him a couple of times. It was
like they were all trying to get him to fly out and I guess it worked
sometime between when I left and when you got up"! Pretty cool I
got to witness it.










We will miss them, but are pretty sure they'll return to nest in our
box next spring for the 4th year in a row :0)

Hungry Babies!

Our ever hungry baby Tree Swallows.

Two of four baby Tree Swallows residing in our birdhouse this year.
Yes, that big one is a baby if you can believe it. We call him "Hoss"
after the character from the 1960's tv show, Bonanza. The three other
babies are much smaller. Hoss is always hogging the food and is always
fighting to be the first at the opening of the birdhouse. So much so, that
one of the smaller babies got pushed out of the birdhouse today.
Luckily I found "Little Joe" in the driveway. Terry got the ladder, I got
Little Joe and returned him safely to the nest. I'm glad I found him
before our cats did.


The three smaller babies. We've had so much fun today watching them
jockeying for position at the opening of the birdhouse. Mama and
Daddy have been busy all day feeding them.


Daddy Tree Swallow taking a short break on top of the arbor.
If if he thinks you're gettting too close to the nest, he'll swoop
down at you. He's attacked our cat, Libby, a couple of times.

Our baby Tree Swallows have hatched. As far as I can tell there are
two, but could be more. I've only seen these two. They are keeping
mom and dad very busy. It's so much fun watching both parents
feeding their babies :0)


Too cute!


In the upper right hand corner of this picture you can see an ant on
the bird box. Mom and dad grab those and feed them to the babies.
Free food!

Our sweet, little Tree Swallows are back for the third year in a row.
They've set up house in the birdhouse overlooking our garden. Their
nest building is complete. You can see nesting material sticking out
from under the birdhouse. They take their time building their nests.
I've read that it takes up to two weeks for them to complete a nest.


The female is staying inside the birdhouse most
of the day which leads me to believe she has laid her
eggs. I walked up to the house yesterday afternoon
and took some pictures of her.

They're Baaaaaaaaack!

I was filling our bird feeder with seed this morning when I heard a
familiar chattering. I knew immediately it was our Tree Swallows
coming back to nest in our back yard. This will be the 3rd year in
a row that they've come to nest in the bird house on our garden arbor.
The sight of them really made my day :0)

I cleaned out the birdhouse that our Tree Swallows had nested
in this year. This is what their nest looked like. Not much to it.
Tree Swallows use lots of feathers in their nest to keep their
babies warm.


It's funny how the nest takes the shape of the birdhouse :0)

Until Next Year!

Waiting for food.


Watching mama circle around the bird box.




Daddy's turn.


This is the last picture I took of our Tree Swallows.
We hope to see them next year :0)

Hungry baby. Looks like he or she is about to eat mama's face :0)


Daddy keeps a watchful eye from above the bird house.


Mama and baby.




How cute is that little face? The day I took these pictures, all
the baby Tree Swallows left the nest. I believe this little one
was the last to leave.

Proud daddy all puffed up.


Very first glimpse of baby Tree Swallow :0) Up until this
point we could just hear them peeping inside the box.

A Peck on the Beak :0)

A sweet welcome home.

Tree Swallows are perfect birds for close-up, hands-on learning:
they are active, attractive, and super-tolerant of people. Best of
all, they live right out in the open so you can really see what
they're doing. They will let you into their lives like no other
songbird.

Mama Swallow

Female tree swallow.


She has no head :0)


These little birds are so approachable. I walked right up to
her while she was perched on the shepherds hook.


Strike a pose!

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

Psalm 84:3-4

Honey, I'm Home!

Mrs. Tree Swallow returning to the nest. You could tell at this
point that the pair had eggs in their nest. After the eggs are laid,
the male guards the nest while the female goes out to feed.
When she returns, he leaves. This photo was taken on June 3rd.

Tree Swallow eggs are small, averaging about 1.8 gm at laying,
but female swallows are also small birds, averaging only 20 gm.


Female going inside the birdhouse after daddy left. These little
birds were so much fun to watch!

Check out the link for interesting info on Tree Swallow egg
incubation http://www.treeswallowprojects.com/cincubat.html